Where the Wild Things Are

Both in Tver and in Moscow (but not in St. Petersburg) I have noticed packs of wild dogs roaming around the streets or lounging in the sun. I have also seen the occasional loner who walks around on his own. Additionally, there are also in Tver a couple of lame dogs who tool around on three legs, both having an injured hind leg.
Now, all of these dogs on the streets has led to me wonder what is the cause of their frequency. Have they been abandoned by their previous owners? Are they Russia’s equivalent of the dingo? Are they former puppy actors who have long since lost their spot in the limelight and now are relegated to a life on the streets?

Seriously, though, it seems as though little thought is given the wild dogs of Russia. To be sure, the rows between dog-catcher and rogue dog or cat that I can recall from my days of reading Heathcliff the Horrible comics (an addendum to Dennis the Menace) clearly isn’t happening here. By and large, most people I have observed simply ignore the dogs as the walk by them. If Russia has some kind of animal control agency, then it needs to do a bit more work in the downtown Tver region.